Fostering Existential Maturity to Manage Terror in a Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment in which existence is more fragile and existential fears or terror rises in people. Objective: Managing existential terror calls for being mature about mortality, something with which palliative care providers are familiar and in need of greater understanding. Methods: Using a case to illustrate, we describe existential terror, terror management, and existential maturity and go on to outline how existential maturity is important for not only the dying and the grieving but for also those facing risk of acquiring COVID-19. Results: Next, we describe how essential components in attaining existential maturity come together. (1) Because people experience absent attachment to important people as very similar to dying, attending to those experiences of relationship is essential. (2) That entails an internal working through of important relationships, knowing their incompleteness, until able to ''hold them inside,'' and invest in these and other connections. (3) And what allows that is making a meaningful connection with someone around the experience of absence or death. (4) We also describe the crucial nature of a holding environment in which all of these can wobble into place. Discussion: Finally, we consider how fostering existential maturity would help populations face up to the diverse challenges that the pandemic brings up for people everywhere.

Thinking about My Existence during COVID-19, I Feel Anxiety and Awe—The Mediating Role of Existential Anxiety and Life Satisfaction on the Relationship between PTSD Symptoms and Post-Traumatic Growth

“…Despite the fact that the relationship between PTSD, SWLS, and PTG had already been tested in several studies, to our knowledge the investigation that includes the aforementioned variables combined with severity of trauma and existential anxiety has not yet been conducted. Additionally, such an investigation during the COVID-19 pandemic has created special conditions for analyzing the relationship between these variables because all the participants experienced a real threat to their health and life as it was the time of population-wide crisis [ 10 ]. Additionally, many recently conducted studies have confirmed that COVID-19 pandemic is connected with diminished well-being and escalated chronic symptoms of psychological distress and other mental disorders [ 46 , 47 ].…”

“…The experience of this kind of anxiety often appear as a result of traumatic experience that force people to re-organize their lives and to confront the conflicts inherent in life and towards death [ 9 ]. Recently, Emanuel et al [ 10 ] described COVID-19 pandemic as a situation that has created an environment in which existence is more fragile and existential fears or terror rises in people. Such ultimate life threats may also activate the process of making an existential imbalance of life.…”

“…It is worth adding that according to the existential approach, authenticity encourages people to accept the painful aspects of human existence and pushes them forward into the future, diminishing existential anxiety [ 2 ]. What is more, overwhelming distress, amplified by prior trauma, may cause inability to cope with death and resort to defensive reactions [ 10 ].…”

“…In addition, COVID-19 has been identified as a serious cause of psychological existential crises that affect all areas of human life on all levels. According to Emanuel et al [ 10 ] pandemic COVID-19 has brought harrowing experiences to many human beings, not only for those it has killed and people have many reason to feel fears and existential crises. Specifically, in the psychological fields it increases the level of distress, anxiety, and other mental health problems as well as loneliness, social withdrawal, and lack of professional support [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Spiritual Care in the Global Sphere

“…High-quality interprofessional spiritual care in the ‘age of pandemic’ carries substantive implications for spiritual and existential wellbeing and the effective alleviation of serious health-related suffering, especially at the end of life and during bereavement. 4 , 5 As the palliative care community continues to advance the importance of spiritual care integration, we should prioritize education for stakeholders and multisector partners accordingly to ensure clear understanding that spirituality encompasses many aspects of a person’s inner life. Religiosity is not synonymous with but may be a component of spirituality and spiritual values for many patients.…”